Ash and friends have arrived in Titian City, home of Pokemon cards and the legendary Pokemon Dome! After receiving a Treecko and Friends deck, he stands ready for his first duel--a practice match against Maya Nijiiro, the "Legendary Rainbow"! Will Ash prove his potential in this first duel, or will the "Legendary Rainbow" continue to shine?
The Heart of the Cards, part 2: Rule The Duel!
Ash looked down at the platform, confused as to what all the different areas meant. The main platform was the largest area, with a place to put the deck in the top right hand corner. Below the main area was a rack, with an area marked 'BENCH' next to it. "Maya, what do all these areas on the platform do?" he asked.
"I'll explain what they're used for as we duel, okay?" Maya assured Ash. "Keep in mind that while this is only practice, I'm telling you the same rules you follow in a real duel, okay?"
"Uh...okay..." Ash stammered. "I'm ready when you are." At this, the scoreboard blipped to life: RUBY: 0 0 0 60 0 SAPPHIRE 0 0 0 60 0 RUBY PSYCHIC SHOCKER! SAPPHIRE TREECKO AND FRIENDS
"Now...before we begin, we shuffle each other's decks." Maya explained. as both decks floated out of their tins and onto the opposite platform.
Ash took Maya's deck, carefully split the deck in two halves of 30 cards each, and shuffled the two halves together. He repeated this process three more times, and set the deck back on the deck holder. "There you go."
"Here's yours." Maya replied. The two decks returned to their owners. "Next, we each draw seven cards and add them to the rack below the main play area. This is your hand." With that she drew seven cards for herself and put them on the rack. The scoreboard changed the Ruby side to read '7 0 0 53 0'. Ash did the same, and his side also read '7 0 0 53 0'.
"Question...what does the '7 0 0 53 0' on the scoreboard mean?" Ash asked.
"Those numbers are, in order: your hand, your Bench Pokemon, number of prizes remaining, number of cards remaining, and combined HP of all the Pokemon you have." Maya explained. "You lose the duel under the following conditions: you run out of Pokemon or cards, your opponent takes all the prizes, or your HP reaches 0."
Ash swallowed hard at the thought of losing. "I've come all this way to learn to play with these cards...and I certainly wouldn't be a good duelist if I lost every time...." "Okay...so now what?" he asked.
"Pick a Basic Pokemon from your hand and put it face down in the main play area, please." Maya instructed.
"'Basic' Pokemon?" Ash was confused.
"A Basic Pokemon is the only kind of card that can be put into play at the
beginning of a match. They are unevolved and usually are able to attack
quickly." Maya explained. "You can then attach Energy to it, attack with it, or evolve it with an Evolution card."
"Energy?" Ash was even more confused.
"Energy cards are attached to your Pokemon, once per turn, to make them attack or retreat." Maya continued. "You should have some in your hand."
"Like this one?" Ash waved a Grass Energy card in the air.
"Yeah, like that one!" Maya laughed.
"Okay..." Ash grabbed the first card out of his hand and placed it face down. "Now what?"
"If you have any other Basic Pokemon in your hand, you may put them on the Bench." Maya explained as two benches appeared nearby the platforms.
Ash selected three more cards and put them on the Bench section of the play area. The same cards also appeared on the nearby bench. "Can attacks hurt Bench Pokemon?" he asked.
"Not unless the Active Pokemon--the one you have facedown--uses an attack that can." Maya explained as the scoreboard changed to display 'RUBY 4 2 0 53 150 SAPPHIRE 3 3 0 53 180' "Now we need to place the prizes--the reward cards you get when you knock out a Pokemon. For the purpose of this duel, we'll have four prizes."
With that, Ash picked four cards out of his deck and put them in the Prize section of his play area, updating his stats to 'SAPPHIRE 3 3 4 48 180' "All ready!" he told Maya.
"Okay then, it's time for the coin toss!" Maya called. "Anyone good at flipping coins?"
"I'll do it!" Brock volunteered, moving his chair to a place close to the middle of the arena and digging out a coin from his pocket. He showed Maya the coin. "This is heads..." he explained, showing the side with a Pikachu face on it. "...this is tails." he displayed the blank side.
"That will be fine." Maya replied.
"Okay...heads, Sapphire goes first, tails, Ruby goes first..." Brock explained, flipping the coin.
"Tails..." Maya called the toss.
"It's heads. Sapphire goes first." Brock announced.
Ash flipped up his face down card: Treecko lv. 14. At the same time, a live Treecko appeared in the arena. "Treecko!" it cried.
"Wow!" Ash gasped as he admired the little Treecko. "I didn't know the Pokemon were supposed to come to life!"
"The cards you have come alive when you put them in the active area, and return to the form of a card when they are knocked out." Maya explained as she flipped up her active card: Ralts lv. 12.
"Oh..." Ash replied, obviously impressed as a live Ralts faced his Treecko.
"Here's what you can do on a turn." Maya explained. "Draw a card from your deck. If it's a Basic Pokemon, you have the option of adding it to your Bench."
Ash took this tip to heart as he drew a card: Wingull lv. 11. He added that to his Bench, boosting his HP to 240, and attached a Grass Energy card to his Treecko, which glowed a soft green color as the energy flowed into it. "Okay, Treecko...Tail Slap!" Ash commanded.
"Treee-Cko!" the Treecko replied as it slammed its tail into the Ralts, knocking it backwards. Maya's HP went down by ten.
"Ruby's turn!" Brock announced, obviously enjoying his new job of referee.
Maya attached a Psychic Energy card to her Ralts, causing it to glow purple for a few seconds. "Ralts, Headbutt!" she called. The Ralts obediently lowered its head and charged into the Treecko. Ash's HP went down by ten.
"Sapphire's turn!" Brock called.
"Must we give a running commentary of every little teeny tiny detail?" Misty asked, exasperated.
"I'm okay with it." Maya assured Misty. "In fact, the refs call the matches that way too."
"You think I'd make a good referee?" Brock asked Pikachu.
Pikachu pictured Brock clad in a traditional zebra-stripe referee uniform, complete with a whistle, coin and clipboard. "Pika, pika pi, pika chu!" he replied with a giggle.
"He thinks I need a whistle and a clipboard." Brock told Misty. "I already have my own whistle...." he explained, digging his own whistle out of his bag and putting it around his neck.
"But where do you have a clipboard, Mr. Carry-all?" Misty asked sarcastically.
"Uh..." Brock gasped, obviously embarrassed. Pikachu and Togepi laughed with delight.
Meanwhile, Ash attached another Grass Energy card and a Pluspower card to his Treecko. "Now, Treecko, Razor Leaf!"
"Tree!!!!" The Treecko cried, hurling a barrage of leaves at the Ralts. The Ralts faded into the form of a card, which floated out of the arena into Maya's discard.
Just then, a whistle made Ash jump. "Sapphire, select a prize!" Brock announced.
"Hey, Brock, where'd you get the whistle?" Ash asked.
"I always carry one for emergencies. Now, pick a prize." Brock replied as Ash's prizes appeared before him. He selected the top left one and looked at it: Wurmple lv. 10. He put that on his bench, giving his HP another boost to 280.
"Ruby, select a Pokemon!" Brock announced.
"Okay...go for it, Electrike!" Maya called, placing an Electrike lv. 14 into the arena.
"Ruby's turn!" Brock called, making a few notes on both sides' stats.
Next, Maya attached a Lightning Energy card and a Defender card to Electrike, then ended her turn.
"Sapphire's turn!" Brock called as he finished making out a scoreboard chart for himself.
Ash drew another Trainer card-Potion. "I think I might need this..." he thought as he slipped the card into his hand. "Treecko, Razor Leaf!" he commanded. The Treecko fired another round of leaves, but the attack was blocked by a blue shield. "Trike! Ele!" the Electrike taunted.
"Ruby's turn!"
Maya attacked a Fighting Energy card to Electrike. "Electrike, Thunder Jolt!" she commanded.
Brock blew a short blast with the whistle, getting everyone's attention. "Coin toss! If tails, Ruby is hit with recoil!"
Ash swallowed hard as the coin went up in the air. He had a feeling that he was about to lose his early advantage...
"Heads.." Maya called the toss. Sure enough, the coin came up heads.
"Trike!!!" The Electrike fired a thunderbolt at the Treecko, making it collapse.
"NOOOO!!!" Ash cried as his Treecko card reappeared in his discard pile.
"Ruby, select a prize!" Brock called as Maya's prizes appeared in front of her.
"Now we're even at three prizes each. This isn't as easy as it looks, is it?" Maya asked as she drew one of her prizes.
"I guess not, but I wil try and win!" Ash replied. "I want to become a great Card Master, like you!"
"You do?" Maya smiled. "Consider this duel a time to learn...and so far, you're doing very well..."
"Besides I still have the advantage in HP!" Ash announced, gesturing to the scoreboard, which displayed "RUBY 5 1 3 45 110 SAPPHIRE 4 4 3 44 250". With that, he placed a Pikachu lv. 16 card in the arena. "Pikachu, I choose you!" Next, he quickly attached a Lightning Energy and a Defender to his Pikachu. "Pikachu, Scratch!" he commanded.
The Pikachu ran up to the Electrike and scratched it in the stomach. The Electrike jerked back in pain as Maya's HP went down by 10, leaving her at 100 HP.
"Ruby's turn!" Brock announced.
Maya drew a Full Heal card and opted to save it. "Just in case..." she thought. "Electrike, Thunder Jolt!" she commanded.
Brock blew the whistle again, signaling a coin toss. Everyone watched as the coin went up in the air. Ash, however, smiled with confidence."Since I have a Defender in play, Electrike's Thunder Jolt will have no effect on my Pikachu!" he thought. "Tails!" he called the toss.
"Sapphire wins the toss!" Brock announced. Maya watched in horror as her Electrike's attack bounced off the blue shield surrounding the Pikachu, shocking the Electrike back and causing Maya's HP to go down to 90.
"Sapphire's turn!" Brock announced.
Ash attached another Lightning Energy to Pikachu, then drew his next card: a Fire Energy. He attached that to the Cyndaquil on his bench, then made his move: "Scratch, Pikachu!"
The Pikachu skittered up to the Electrike and scratched it in the face. Maya's HP now stood at 80.
"Ruby's turn!" Brock called.
Maya attached another Lightning Energy to Electrike. "Thunder Jolt!" she commanded, motioning to Brock for the coin toss. The coin went up....and landed on heads.
Ash gasped as the Electrike's attack shocked the Pikachu, making his HP go down to 250. He sighed as Brock called "Sapphire's turn!", and drew his next card: Raichu lv. 31! He quickly overlaid that on top of the Pikachu card, boosting his HP to 290.
The Pikachu disappeared in a flash of light and a Raichu stood in its place. "Raichu!" it taunted.
"Raichu, Thundershock!" Ash commanded. But his command was interrupted by the tell-tale whistle. He knew what that meant: Coin toss!
"If heads, Ruby is paralyzed!" Brock announced. With that, the coin went up...
"Heads!" Ash called the toss. "Oh please...oh please..." he begged. Thankfully, the coin came up heads!
"Chu!" The Raichu unleashed a thunderbolt, bringing Maya's HP down to 60.
"Ruby's turn!" Brock announced.
"You're doing well so far, but do you think your Raichu can handle my favorite card?" Maya asked, displaying a Manetric lv. 30 card to Ash.
"Bring it on!" Ash cried.
"Okay...two can play at this game!" With that, Maya overlaid the card over the Electrike card, and the Electrike disappeared in a flash of light, leaving a Manetric in its place. The move also boosted Maya's HP to 80.
Ash swallowed hard. Had he overstepped his bounds? Was he fixing to lose and blow his chances of competing in a trading card tournament?
Will Ash pull through and win? Stay tuned!